Press

“The CIX Top 20 program is Canada’s largest national showcase of the hottest and most innovative tech companies. Hundreds of applications are submitted each year from across Canada and the CIX Selection Committee will evaluate and select 20 based on criteria including Business Model, Quality of Product and Service Offering, Market Opportunity and Depth of Management.

“CareGuide has always been a company unafraid to play in multiple marketplaces at once. Since its inception, launching in five different markets at once, the company has looked for novel approaches to accelerate growth for its suite of home care services. Today, CareGuide announced another novel move to expand its offering to the wider “care” market — this time in the FinTech space.”

“Toronto’s CareGuide is known for making its own road. The care marketplace startup, which has a portfolio of sites like Sitter.com and Housekeeper.com, has taken a unique approach to fundraising and growth: predominantly raising $4 million in seed funding from over 70 angel investors, and convincing RBC to supply $1 million in debt financing to gobble up the competitor which inspired its business. Today, CareGuide announced a strategic investment in Moncton-based Qimple.”

“The C100 recently announced the names of Canadian startups selected to participate in the next 48 Hours in the Valley, the organization’s flagship program. On December 7-9 2015, participating companies will engage in 2.5 days of programming, mentorship and networking in Silicon Valley. The 17 selected startups, which join some 200 alumni companies supported by C100 programs over the past five years, are: BONE Structure, CareGuide, Community Sift, CrowdRiff, Flatbook, Foko, Graphite Software, LoginRadius, MappedIn, PostBeyond, Roadmunk, Sensibill, Sharethebus, Statflo, Storybird, ThinkData Works and Vantage.”

“CareGuide is an online portal that owns a portfolio of other websites dedicated to matching various caregivers, such as babysitters or elder-care providers, with families. The company secured $5.5-million in capital last year from Canadian investors, a signal of just how large and still underserved caregiving needs are in Canada.”

“Today, CareGuide announced that it has raised $1 million in capital, as well as additional financial services, from RBC, the largest bank in Canada. The debt financing brings CareGuide’s total funding to $6 million in the last year, after previous closes in March and July last year.”

“When CareGuide founder John Philip Green set out to raise the first outside capital for his network of websites, his goal was $500,000 (U.S.). He ended up raising more than $1.5-million after seeking equity through the popular U.S.-based crowdfunding portal, AngelList.”

“When a group of entrepreneurs of this caliber coalesces around a unique opportunity, it’s usually a good one. Of course, we’ve already seen the evidence first hand – and the numbers don’t lie. We are very pleased that John has given us the chance to invest further into his vision, and look forward to watching him lead CareGuide into another phase of remarkable growth.”

“When we last checked in with Toronto’s CareGuide, it was in the midst of closing a $1.5 million seed round from an impressive list of over 50 investors. Today, the startup has announced a second close of its seed round, adding an additional $2.5 million in equity and debt financing to its coffers. CareGuide’s total financing now stands at $5 million, while the investor crowd has grown from 50 to 70.”

“Toronto's CareGuide, the company behind the care matchmaking services Sitter.com, Housekeeper.com, PetSitter.com, ElderCare.com, and HouseSitter.com, announced today that it has raised an additional $2.5 million in equity and debt financing in a second close of its seed round.”

“This felt different,” said Sharwood, reflecting on the decision to invest. “It felt like it had a lot of legs. I said ‘let me help you put your forecast together,’ and it went up from there. It was good, smart people when I looked under the hood.”

“The TechVibes 20 is a bi-monthly list of the hottest and most promising tech startups across Canada. The list is carefully curated by TechVibes editorial staff and reflects who's making waves in our nation's tech ecosystem right now.”